News

LEXINGTON, Ky. (May 6, 2021) — A University of Kentucky College of Medicine professor has been awarded a $1.9 million National Institutes of Health (NIH) grant for his research on the body’s immune response to sepsis, which could potentially help to improve therapies for the common disease. 

For many years, ventricular assist devices (VADs) were considered a last resort for patients with serious heart failure. These mechanical pumps, which help maintain blood circulation, were mainly used for patients awaiting a heart transplant.

Recent studies conducted by University of Kentucky researchers suggest VADs actually could be used to recover the hearts of patients with heart failure, even those with advanced heart failure, possibly preventing their need for transplants in the future.

Inducible Depletion of Calpain-2 Mitigates Abdominal Aortic Aneurysm in Mice

Latha Muniappan, Michihiro Okuyama, Aida Javidan, Devi Thiagarajan, Weihua Jiang, Jessica J. Moorleghen, Lihua Yang, Anju Balakrishnan, Deborah A. Howatt, Haruhito A. Uchida, Takaomi C. Saido, Venkateswaran Subramanian

Originally published25 Mar 2021https://doi.org/10.1161/ATVBAHA.120.315546Arteriosclerosis, Thrombosis, and Vascular Biology. ;0:ATVBAHA.120.315546

Objective:

Twenty years ago, University of Kentucky researchers Alan Daugherty, PhD, DSc, and Lisa Cassis, PhD, stumbled into a research method that contributed greatly to UK’s cardiovascular research growth.

LEXINGTON, Ky. (April 1, 2021) – A new research center focused on aortic disease has been established at the University of Kentucky thanks to a gift from the Saha Foundation.

LEXINGTON, Ky. (Feb. 15, 2021) – Charles Hill always considered himself a nearly perfect picture of health and it is something that he worked hard for.

The Saha Awards are given to encourage and support staff and students with an interest in and dedication to cardiovascular medicine. Each award includes an unrestricted $1000 prize, a certificate and recognition at the University of Kentucky Gill Heart Institute Cardiovascular Research Day held on September 10, 2021 at the Gatton Student Center.

Researchers at the University of Kentucky have received a $100,000 grant from The Marfan Foundation to assess how patients with Marfan syndrome develop hip pain. The study will be conducted by Mary Sheppard, an assistant professor of family medicine and surgery in the UK College of Medicine, and Michael Samaan, an assistant professor of biomechanics in the UK College of Education Department of Kinesiology and Health Promotion. Marfan syndrome is a genetic condition that impacts the body’s connective tissue. It most frequently affects the heart, blood vessels, eyes and bones.

Abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) formation involves a complex process of aortic medial destruction through degradation of extracellular matrix proteins, elastin, and collagen. AAA exhibits sexual dimorphism because male sex is a major risk factor of AAA in both mice and humans.1 In mice, testosterone has been implicated as a major contributor to sexual dimorphism of angiotensin II (AngII)–induced AAAs.2 However, the mechanism by which testosterone drives sexual dimorphism of AAA is unknown.

A position is available in the Department of Physiology. The position is to assist with tissue culture, electrophysiology, molecular biology and biochemistry techniques. S/he will be responsible for performing many of the proposed experiments. The applicant will need to isolate different types of mouse cardiomyocytes (nodal, atrial, ventricular) to perform single cell electrophysiology. The electrophysiology experiments include acquisition and analysis of voltage and current clamp data.

LEXINGTON, Ky. (Sept. 17, 2020) — A new University of Kentucky College of Medicine study may provide answers for why so many COVID-19 patients experience thrombosis, or the formation of blood clots that obstruct blood flow through the circulatory system.

Saha Cardiovascular Research Center at the University of Kentucky College of Medicine is recognizing five employees who provide outstanding patient-centered care and live the direct values of UK HealthCare to foster diversity, innovation, respect, compassion and teamwork.

Each nominee has a unique set of skills and values that they exhibit daily, as well as a high commitment to patients and quality of care. They were chosen based on stories collected from patients, as well as feedback from their peers.

The 2020 winners are:

LEXINGTON, Ky. (Sept. 1, 2020) — Alan Daugherty, senior associate dean for research at the University of Kentucky College of Medicine, has been selected to serve as chair of Scientific Committee of the Sarnoff Cardiovascular Research Foundation, an organization that trains medical students to be leaders in cardiovascular science and medicine.

LEXINGTON, Ky. (Sept. 2, 2020) — A new University of Kentucky College of Medicine study provides insight into how a protein called angiotensinogen (AGT) contributes to blood pressure regulation and atherosclerosis.

AGT is a member of the renin-angiotensin system, a hormone system in the human body that regulates blood pressure and fluid balance. AGT produces angiotensin II, which regulates blood pressure and contributes to atherosclerosis, or the buildup of plaque in the arteries.

LEXINGTON, Ky. (July 27, 2020) — The Kentucky Network for Innovation and Commercialization (KYNETIC), funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH), is excited to announce that five of the seven projects recently awarded $50,000 to bring their innovations toward product development are from the University of Kentucky.

These projects include:

The NIH Center of Biomedical Research Excellence (COBRE) on Obesity and Cardiovascular Diseases, in collaboration with the Center for Clinical and Translational Sciences (CCTS) announce the availability of limited funds to support pilot projects focused on research examining obesity-associated diseases.